Stop motion for textile machines



April 1952 M. M; ROSENSTEIN 2,594,218

STOP MOTION FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Feb. 12, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 ao 4/ f8 4 3 F 2 "7/0 a a}? 49 W 47 42 1 K 43 2'7 45 3. I Y F 1 P 4 505;? F *4 r uvmvroa. 4 f7 TCHELLM Rosa/s 75m.

40 ad -Mafia A ril 22, 1952 Filed Feb. 12, 1948 M. M. ROSENSTEIN2,594,218

STOP MOTION FOR TEXTILE MACHINES 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 nvmvrox. Mrc/mu M F0SENSTE/M HTTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 22, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STOP MOTION FORTEXTILE MACHINES Mitchell M. Rosenstein, Willimantic, Conn.

Application February 12, 1948, Serial No. 7,732

11 Claims. 1 This invention relates to a stop motion for textilemachines and more particularly to such a device for fabric knittingmachines.

I countered in the construction of different types An object of theinvention is to provide a device which will become operative to stop atextile machine upon the occurrence of a fault in the structure of thefabric produced thereby,. such as may be caused by a skipped stitch or afailure in the knitting or weaving operation, such as commonly due whenone or more threads break in the machine before they reach the fabricwhich is being produced therefrom.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a device having oneor more probes or the like, which are constantly in motion and incontact with the cloth so that a defect. occurring therein will bequickly detected by the device and the operation of the machine stopped.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be more clearlyunderstood from the following description and from the accompanyindrawings, in whichc Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic end view of aportion of aknitting machine, having my improved stop motion device applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a bottom view showing the said stop motion device in operationupon a piece of fabric and the electric circuit for controlling theoperation of said device.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged end view of my improved stop motion device.

Fig. 4,is a plan view of a portion thereof.

Fig. '5 is arear view of said device on the same scale as illustrated inFigs... 1 and 2, Showing a driving mechanism therefor.

Fig. 6 is a fragmental viewsimilar to Fig. 4 but showing the device inoperative position.

Fig. 7 is a fragmental view illustrating a modified form of probemechanism.

Fig. 8 is a side view showing the end of a probe for a closely knitcloth.

Fig. 9 is a similar view showing the tip of a probe for a loosely knitor wide mesh cloth.

As shown in the drawings, the numeral denotes a spool from whichaplura'lity of threads 6 are supplied to a bank of needles, indicated atl, which knit the said threads into a fabric 8. This fabric may beknitted in different widths and it is usually wound on a fabric roll 9.

Further description of the knitting, machine illustrated is hereinomitted since such machines are commonly known to "those skilled in theart and myflinvention may be applied thereto (independently of' anyvariation that may be .en-

of knitting machines.

Stop motions have been heretofore commonly used on textile weaving andknitting machines. The types most commonly used, however, have consistedof a separate wire member for each thread woven as a warp thread orknitted into the fabric. Such devices are extremely complicated andrequire a great deal of time in the setting up and maintenance of themachines. Such devices have also been found impractical for use onknitting machines and, consequently, it has been necessary to depend onthe skill and alertness of the operator in detecting a flaw in thefabric or a failure in the knitting operation such as commonly caused bya broken thread or other irregularities in the condition and operationof the machine. The mostcommon failures have been found to be due to thebreaking of threads, indicated at 6,, before they are knitted into thefabric. Such breakage causes a rip or slit in the finished fabric and,unless the operator of the machine is alert and quick to detect thisfault and stop the machine, a considerable amount of cloth may beproduced with flaws therein and thereby cause costly waste of materialsince such defective fabric must be discounted since it is practicallyuseless.

My invention is therefore particularly directed to the provision of asimple and eflicient device which will constantly inspect the fabric andimmediately stop the machine upon detecting a flaw therein.

This invention may be embodied in the device such as illustrated hereinwherein the numeral Ill denotes a supporting bar which may extend acrossthe machine or for any desired distance.

A track H is carried upon the said bar. This track is preferably in theform of a plate having the edge proportions thereof extending beyond thesides of the supporting bar.

A desired number of carrier members I2 are mounted upon said track andeach of said members is provided with depending flanges I3 which extendunder the edge portions of the track H l and slidably retain the saidcarrier member I 2 thereon.

A contact plate l4, having contact points l5l5, is carried upon thecarrier member l2. This contact plate is preferably pivoted to the.carrier member by means of a stud I6 and nut lea.

The said contact plate It is normally retained in inoper tive positionby means of springs -l l -I T which are anchored to -thecarrienmem+ berl2 and secured to the said contact plate so as to normally retain it inalignment with the carrier member l2.

A probe, preferably in the form of a bar I8, is carried'on a rockermember 19 which is pivotally mounted in posts 20 that are carried on thecontact plate It. A spring 2i is carried on said contact plate andsecured to a lever 22, projecting from the said rocker bar, for normallyurging the probe ll into contact with the fabric 8. The end of saidprobe is provided with a tip 23 which engages the under side of thecloth as it is knitted in the machine. This tip projects above ashoulder 24 that is provided for the purpose hereinafter described.

Different forms of tips may be provided, in the v ends of the probes [8,in accordance with the particular mesh or grade of the fabric. When aclosely knit fabric is to be produced, a narrow tip, such as 23, isused. When a coarse or wide mesh fabric is produced, a large tip 25,such as shown in Fig. 9, may be used. This tip may also have an adjacentshoulder which is preferably provided as indicated at 26.

In order to move the carrier member l2 upon the track II, I provide adrive belt 2'1 which is preferably mounted on the sheaves 2828 at theopposite ends of the bar 10. This belt may be in the form of a cable orother flexible means,

such as a chain or the like.

As illustrated in Fig. 5, a mechanism is provided for reciprocallymoving the said belt. This device may consist of a lever 29 which ispivotally mounted as at 30, to a suitable support, such as Y the floorindicated at 3|, and may be driven by operating the said belt as will behereinafter described.

, It will be noted that the belt is secured to each of the carriermembers 12 by clamping means, preferably in the form of a projection 31from said member, carrying a suitable clamping member 38 thereon whichengages the belt and secures it to the carrier member.

If desired, means may be provided for moving and holding the probes outof contact with the fabric whenever it may be found necessary, such asat times when the machine is being rethreaded for different types orsizes of fabric, or when a break should occur in one or more threads andit becomes necessary to readjust the machine and access to the needles Ior other parts of the machine is required.

Such means may comprise a cross bar 39 which extends along thesupporting bar If], over the probes [8 carried thereon and out ofcontact with said probes. This bar is mounted on levers 40- 40 which arecarried on and rotate with an operating bar 4| that is pivotally mountedon brackets 42-42.

The said electric circuit also includes therein I a motor 46.whichdrives'the entire knitting machine, and the motor 32 which operatesthe stop motion mechanism. While the said motors are shown as separate,one motor may be used for driving both the machine and the stop motionmechanism, since the cable 28 may be operated directly by a part of themachine instead of by the separate motor and mechanism illustrated inFig. 5. The said circuit further comprises a pair of conductors 4'l-i3which are connected to an electric supply and to the primary side of asuitable transformer 43. These conductors are also connected to themotors 32 and it, by means of conductors 50-51, through a main switch52, and a relay switch 53, the said motors being connected in saidcircuit in parallel.

A conductor 54 is grounded to the supporting bar It and connected to thesecondary side of the transformer 49, and a conductor 55 is connectedfrom the opposite end of said secondary side of the transformer througha relay solenoid 5e and a conductor 5?,- to the contact bar M.

It will be understood that when it is desired to set the knittingmachine in operation, it is simply necessary to close tthe main switch52. This will energize .theelectric circuit and the motors -32 and 46which are included therein. The motor l-fi will then drive the machinewhile the motor 32'will operate the stop motion device.

The operation of my improved stop motion device is as follows:

After the machine is set in motion and the motor 32 becomes energized,the lever 23, through the pitman 32, applies a reciprocating movement tothe belt 27. This movement may be adjusted for predetermined distancesand depends upon the connection between the crank lever and the lever29. This reciprocating movement of the belt is transferred to thecarrier members l2 which carry the probes l2, and said probes arethereby moved with a reciprocating movement crosswise to the directionof travel of the fabric and in contact with the bottom thereof.

As long as the cloth is being properly formed, the probes will merelyslide in contact therewith and the stop motion device will remaininoperative. When a flaw occurs in the cloth, either through thebreaking of a thread or for some other reason, the tip of the probecoming into contact with the flaw will enter the said flaw up to theshoulder 24 or 25 while the movement of the carrier 12 continues. As thetip enters the flaw, the probe I8 will turn the contact plate l4 uponthe post l5 against the tension of the springs l'l-!l,'as clearlyillustrated in Fig. 6, and thereby bring one of the contact points I5into contact with the contact bar 4!. This will close the electriccircuit through the solenoid 56 and cause opening of the relay switch 53and thereby break the circuit to the electric motors 32 and 46 and stopthe operation of the machine as well as the operation of the stop motionde-- vice. Upon such stoppage of the machine, the remainder of theelectric circuit, which extends through the stop motion device, may bebroken by opening the main switch 52 while the machine is beingreconditioned.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, it will be noted that a plurality of probeunits may be used adjacent to each other and movable in common upon thetrack ll. These units may be spaced apart for any desired distance inorder to accommodate fabrics of different widths. For instance, .in thefabric such as illustrated in Fig. 2, it may be desired to use threeseparate probes, each one traveling-for a predetermined distance, whichwill overlap the travel of the adjacent probe so that a closerinspection of the cloth may be provided by permitting fasterreciprocating movement of the probes in proportion to the speed withwhich the fabric is produced and moved past the probes.

When my device is used on a narrow strip of fabric, one probe may besufficient, while for a wider fabric, more probes may be used and theirspeed and distance of travel may be regulated by adjustment of thedriving mechanism so as to provide the desired coverage over the surfaceof the fabric for the closeness of inspection required.

In cases where the fabric is produced with a combination of differenttextiles, such as a close knitand a loose knit, the appropriate probetips may be used in the ends of the probes and the distance traveled bythe probes may be adjusted in proportion to the width of the particularstrips in the fabric.

When it is desired to move all of the probes away from the fabric topermit access to parts of the machine, the handle 43 may be used tomerely rock the bar 4| and thereby, through the levers -40, swing thecross bar downwardly upon the tops of all the probes and move themagainst the tension of the springs 2 I, to the position indicated indotted lines in Fig. 3.

In the form illustrated in Fig.7, the probes 18 may be detachablysecured to a socket 53 which is carried on the rocker bar 19.

If desired, the said rocker bar may be provided with a detent 59 whichwill engage the end of a pawl 60 having a button 6! at the opposite endthereof. This arrangement will permit the probes to be individuallyretained in a position away from the fabric. By merely pressing theprobe downwardly, the pawl (it will move into contact with the detent 5band hold the probe down against the tension of the spring 2 i. When itis desired to release the said individual probe, the button 6| may bepushed down to thereby disengage the detent and permit the spring 21 toreturn the probe to its normal operative position.

I claim:

1. A stop motion device for knitting machines and the like comprising asupporting member extending substantially across the machine, carrierslidably movable upon said support in a direction transverse to thedirection of travel of the fabric produced in t1 e machine, a probemounted on said carrier and extending therefrom into contact with thefabric, an electric circuit, a motor in said circuit for operating themachine, and means rendered. operable by the movement of said carrierupon the engagement of said probe with a flaw in the fabric to causeopening of said circuit and stoppage of the machine.

2. For a knitting machine and the like, a stop motion device comprisinga support running transversely to the machine, a carrier reciprocatinglymovable on said support, a contact member movably carried on thecarrier, a probe extending from said contact member and having a tip incontact with the fabric, whereby the said tip is provided with a probingmovement running transversely of the direction of travel of the fabricin the machine, an electric circuit, means rendered operable by themovement of said contact member upon engagement of the said tip with aflaw in the fabric to effect said electric circuit, and means controlledby said electric circuit for stopping the operation of the machine.

3. For a fabric knitting machine and the like,

a stop motion device comprising a support running transversely tosaid-machine, a track on said support, a carrier reciprocatingly movableon said track, a contact plate swivelly connected to said carrier, meansfor normally retaining said contact member in alignment with saidcarrier, a probe extending from said contact member and having a tip inthe end thereof engaging the surface of a fabric being produced in saidmachine, a contact bar running along said track and insulated from thesaid contact member, an electric circuit connected to said contactmember and bar, means rendered operable by the movement of said carrierupon the engagement of the probe tip with a flaw in the fabric to causecontact between the contact member and the contact bar to thereby closesaid circuit, and means rendered operable upon closing the said circuitfor stopping said machine.

4. For a knitting machine and the like, a stop motion device comprisinga support running transversely of the machine, a track on said support;a carrier slidably mounted on said track, means for applyingreciprocating movement to said carrier, a contactmember on said carrierand movable relatively thereto, a probe extending from said carrier intocontact with the surface of a fabric being produced in the machine whilein motion .with said carrier, a contact bar insulated from said contactmember, an electric circuit, and means for normally retaining saidcontact member out of engagement with said contact bar, the said contactmember being movable into contact with the contact bar upon engagementof the probe with a flaw in the fabric to control the said electriccircuit, and means operable upon closing of said electric circuit forcausing stoppage of the machine.

5. For a knitting machine and the like, a stop motion device comprisingan elongated support extending substantially crosswise to themachine andto the direction of travel of the fabric produced in said machine, acarrier slidable on said support, means for reciprocatingly moving saidcarrier along said support, a probe carried by the carrier and extendingtherefrom into contact with the surface of the fabric, an electriccircuit, means rendered operable by movement of said carrier, upon theengagement of the probe with a flaw in the fabric, to effect saidcircuit, and means controlled by said circuit for causing stoppage ofthe machine.

6. For a knitting machine and the like, a stop motion device comprisingan elongated support extending substantially transversely to the machineand to the direction of travel of the fabric produced thereby, a carriermovably mounted on said support, means for reciprocatingly moving saidcarrier upon the support, a contact plate swivelly secured to thecarrier, a probe pivotally mounted on said contact plate, means forresiliently retaining said probe in contact with the surface of thefabric, a contact bar insulated from said plate, an electric circuitconnected to said plate and bar, means for normally retaining thecontact plate out of contact with the bar, the said contact plate beingcaused to rotate upon the carrier and contact said bar, upon enagementof the probe with a flaw in the fabric, to thereby close said circuit,and means rendered operable upon closing of the circuit to causestoppage of the machine.

7. For a knitting machine and the like, a stop motion device comprisingan elongated support extending transversely to the machine and to thedirection of travel of the fabric produced therein, a plurality ofspaced carriers on said support, each of said carriers having a probe extending therefrom into contact with the surface of the fabric, means forsimultaneously and reciprocatingly moving said carriers upon thesupport, whereby the probes are moved crosswise to the fabric while incontact therewith to thereby probe the fabric for the entire widththereof, and means operable, upon engagement of any one of said probeswith a flaw in the fabric, to cause stoppage of the machine.

8. For a knitting machine and the like, a stop motion device comprisingan elongated support extending transversely of the machine, a pluralityof carriers slidably mounted on said support, means for reciprocatinglymoving said carriers, a probe extending from each of the carriers intocontact with the surface of the fabric and movable by the carrier in adirection transversely to the direction of travel of the fabric, meansoperable, upon engagement of at least one of said probes with a flaw inthe fabric, to cause stoppage of the machine, and means forsimultaneously moving all of said probes away from said fabric.

9. For a knitting machine and the like, a stop motion device comprisinga support, a plurality of carriers movable on said support andadjustable for different distances there between, common means forsimultaneously and reciprocatingly moving said carriers on the support,each of said carriers having a contact member carried thereby andmovable thereon, a probe extending from each of said contact membersinto contact with the surface of said fabric, means ferresilientlyretaining said probe into contact with the surface of the fabric, acontact bar insulated from said contact members and running along saidsupport, an electric circuit connected to said contact bar and plate,said contact plate being operable by movement of the carrier upon theengagement of the probe with a flaw in the fabric to contact the contactbar and thereby close the said circuit, means operable upon the closingof the circuit to stop the machine, and means for individually retainingsaid probes out of engagement with the fabric.

10. For a knitting machine and the like, a stop motion device includinga probe, mechanism for retaining said probe in engagement with thesurface of a fabric produced in said machine and moving said probetransversely to the direction of travel of said fabric, the end of saidprobe containing a tip adapted to enter a flaw in the fabric, a shoulderadjacent to said tip for limiting the movement of the probe after theentry of the tip, and means whereby continuing movement of the carrierafter engagement of the tip with the flaw will cause stoppage of themachine.

11. For a knitting machine and the like, a stop motion device includinga track member running transversely of the machine and of the directionof travel of a fabric produced in said machine, a carrierreciprocatingly movable on said track, an endless belt movable alongsaid track and engaged with said carrier for applying reciproeatingmovement thereto, an electric circuit, circuit closing means including acontact member on said carrier and a contact bar running along saidtrack and insulated from the carrier, a probe extending from the carrierinto contact with the fabric, a motor for driving said machine and aseparate motor for driving said endless belt, the said motors beingincluded in said circuit and said contact plate member being movable, bycontinuing movement of the carrier upon engagement of the probe with aflaw in the fabric, to control said circuit and cause de-energiza tionof said motors; whereupon the operation of the machine and stop motiondevice is terminated.

METCHELL M. ROSENSTEIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNZTED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,168,755 Waclisman Aug. 8, 19392,290,257 Stanley July 21, 1942 2,450,996 Seney Oct. 12, 1948 FORE'IG NPATENTS Number Country Date 292,659 Germany June 22, 1916 308,972Germany Nov. 16, 1918

